Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it ain't mine. End of story.

Summary: Tortall and the rest of the continent has been turned disastrously into desert. The gods leave it up to one young woman to change the past, to bring the world back to its former glory. But what if the risks involved with that are too much for her to handle?

1. How it started:

51 years after Lady Knight, the end of the Human Era, and The Devastation

The gods were gathered in the coliseum. Everyone was there. Animal gods. Insect gods. Major gods. Minor gods. There had never been such a meeting like this before.

As a matter of fact, a casual viewer might have thought that this was some sort of gathering for a party…if everyone hadn't had such somber expressions on their faces.

The gods squinted toward the sky, watching as the moon slowly inched toward the sun.

Finally, the moon came to rest in front of the sun, and the world was left to thrive in the momentary darkness.

"We need to work quickly if we want to get this done." Mithros' voice boomed across the coliseum. He raised his arms in front of them, and in the palm of his hands he held a fist-sized silver ball.

Other human gods quickly followed suit, but instead of holding their balls of power steady in their hands, they gently boosted them up into the air. The silver balls floated over to Mithros, hovered over his own ball of power, and then melded in with his. And as each power ball melded in with Mithros' own, the ball in Mithros' hands got bigger in size.

When the human gods realized that the animal and insect gods were not moving to join, they all turned to glare.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" the Graveyard Hag demanded impatiently.

"We've already talked this through." The Great Mother Goddess said. "And we all agreed to give up some of our remaining power to help." she reminded the others serenely.

The other gods had been less willing than the human gods to agree. Humans were waning in their belief of the gods, but the animals and insects still remained faithful to their gods.

"Fine. Here." The house fly said cantankerously. A small speck of silver flew over to Mithros' ball and melted into it.

"Quickly." Mithros said in his gruff voice.

The remaining gods reluctantly gave up some of their god-power to Mithros' ball.

"And the child?"

The Goddess stepped up to Mithros, a small baby held in her arms. "Here." she said. She glanced up at the moon. "Quickly. The light will be back and we will become weak again. We must do this before that."

The baby had been found alone in the desert, the dead body of her mother beside her. The gods had declared her perfect for their purposes, and taken her in. For a month or so now, the Goddess had been taking care of her.

Mithros glanced down longingly at the silver ball in his hands. By now it had grown to the size of an adult human's head. Then he sighed. This must be done, he reminded himself. We will not have a chance like this one again.

He lifted the ball and brought it toward the sleeping baby cradled in the Goddess' arms. The moment the ball touched the baby's soft skin, it seemed to quiver. Then the ball slowly melted into the baby's body. He watched as the baby's skin glowed a most unearthly color, and then the ball of power was gone, completely inhaled by the baby's body.

The baby suddenly opened her eyes and glanced up at Mithros with her glittering emerald eyes. I don't remember her having eyes like those when we first picked her up…

Mithros blinked and stared at the Goddess. "And will she have black hair also?"

Amusement flashed across the Goddess' eyes, eyes of the same shockingly green that the baby had. She lifted a hand to study a lock of her own long black hair. "Perhaps."

Mithros shook his head. He should have known that she would do something like this.

The sunlight reappeared, chasing away the remains of the darkness that the moon's shadow had bought. The gods watched as the moon continued on its way across the sky, feeling the exhilaration that the brief darkness had brought slowly leak away from them.

Mithros turned to look at the Goddess, who was rocking the baby back to sleep. The baby would have to be given back to a tribe, now that they were finished with the ordeal.

"Well, what now?" he said with a great sigh.

The Goddess shook her head and motioned for Mithros to be more quiet. "Now we wait."

~*~*~*~

19/20 years later

"It's been three years."

"Do you think that he'll still be in love with her?"

"He should be over it by now. Anyway, who said it was love?" The first girl said to the second with a scornful laugh. "He only lusts after her, that's all."

"Lust doesn't last for three years, Mindy." The second girl disagreed.

"Yes, it does." Mindy said. "What about my brother? He's wanted to lay his hands on Kaprice for ages. And what about your own brother, Lonna?"

"Well, she is very pretty." Lonna admitted.

"Hmph. I guess if you like her type, she is."

"What are you two girls talking about?" Kaprice asked the girls as she came up behind them.

The two girls jumped, nearly dropping their jugs of water.

Kaprice delicately held onto her own, tilting it into the pond of the oasis to fill it with water.

"We were just discussing Dawne." Lonna said embarrassedly.

Dawne was the name of the spring festival. It was the most important and popular festival of the year that the desert tribes celebrated.

"Oh? Is there a special young man you wanted to capture at Dawne?" Kaprice asked lightly.

"I want to capture Ryker of the Black Hawks." Mindy said in an overly loud voice. Several others of the Black Sands tribe who were nearby glanced up at the commotion.

Lonna flushed. "Mindy…"

"You won't mind, will you?" Mindy asked Kaprice pointedly.

Kaprice stood, jug full of water held firmly in her grip. "Mind? Why should I?" she asked the younger girl mildly.

"Well, it is rumored that you two are lovers." Mindy declared in a malevolent way.

Kaprice just laughed amusedly. "I'm not that much of a fool."

Lonna started pulling Mindy away. "I'm sorry, Kaprice, but we can't stop to chat. We've got to prepare for tonight." Tonight was the opening night of Dawne.

"Indeed. Then you must be on your way." Kaprice waved a dismissive hand at them. "Oh, and Mindy. Good luck." she called out to them mockingly.

Kaprice chuckled underneath her breath when Mindy turned to give her a black stare. But before she could respond, Lonna pulled her away.

One of the onlookers murmured the word, "Freak" loudly enough for everyone to hear.

Kaprice let her smile drop as soon as she had the hood of her desert robe over her head. She quickly stalked into her tent and pulled the flap shut behind her. After placing her jar of water down carefully in the corner, she plopped herself down onto her pallet

Why can't they just leave me alone?

Kaprice hated how others of the tribe talked about her, thought of her, looked at her. She was officially known as "The Freak" in her tribe. Not to mention the others.

Dawne was a festival that lasted seven days, the longest of all festivals of the year. It would become officially at sundown that night, and continue on until sundown of the seventh day.

Of all weeks, this was the week that Kaprice hated most. It hadn't always been this way. She had only started hating this week three years ago.

Dawne was the festival that celebrated renewal, life, love, and joy. It was the one week especially designed for different wandering tribes to gather together and celebrate. It was the celebration that allowed for young women to flirt with the young men and find a lover. It was the celebration that most often resulted in marriages at the end of the week. And one couldn't possible forget about the babies born nine months after the festival

Once young men and women turned sixteen, they were allowed to fully partake in the festival. Those who were younger were also allowed to celebrate and dance, but they were not allowed amongst the crowd of those looking for lovers. For husbands and wives. There were several other festivals each year where tribes met together, but those were also focused on things other than love and marriage.

Few girls found a suitable husband at their first festival. But most girls found husbands by the time they were seventeen. It was rare for a girl to be eighteen and still without a husband.

Kaprice was nineteen.

Both Mindy and Lonna had turned sixteen only a couple months ago. This would be their first festival.

Mindy, with her pretty face, might just be able to find a young man who was willing to marry her at this festival. But would that young man be Ryker?

Ryker was one of the most eligible young men of all the Black tribes. He was the chieftain's son, next in line to rule the tribe of the Black Hawks. That itself made him irresistible to young women. For being the chieftain's wife was to live a life of ease and luxury. One couldn't be more better off than as the wife of the tribal chief.

Perhaps the girls were right in their thoughts of Ryker being over her. It had been three years, after all. Perhaps he was now finally willing to leave Kaprice alone and find some other girl to marry.

So why wasn't she comforted by the thought?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A.N. - Well, there it is. I hope the wait for it wasn't too long. This fic will be updated every other day, unless otherwise noted. So if you want to read chapter two, come back the day after tomorrow.

And on a sidenote, the name Kaprice rhymes with the first word of the chocolate: REESE's peanut butter cups. Kaprice, Reese, Kaprice, Reese. Got it? Not Kaprice, rice, Kaprice, rice.

And although the plot is sadly lacking from this chapter and the next, it will make an appearance soon. Really.

Hmm…what else did I want to say…

Oh, and more TP characters will be appearing in later chapters. So don't be alarmed if you don't recognize anybody in the next couple chapters. After all, where would a TP fanfic be without TP characters.

Well, dear readers, I want to know what you think. Stay a little while longer and leave me a review…

~krizsta

P.S. - for those who asked about a sequel to my first fic, Bloody Thorns, we'll still have to see about that. But if I am suddenly clobbered with an idea for a good sequel, I'll make sure you know about it.